Abstract
The Moon is the easiest place to begin. To clarify, when Moon is capitalized, it refers to Earth’s principal satellite. When uncapitalized, moon refers to any satellite confined to the gravitational field of a planet. See the glossary for a more precise definition. The Moon is certainly the most familiar object in the night sky and probably the first thing a new observer turns to. The first view of the Moon is stunning: bright, full of detail, and strangely monochromatic, the Moon is the very image of a weird and alien landscape. The Moon also makes a great place to begin to learn good telescope skills like pointing your scope, changing magnification, focusing, tracking, and more.
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Notes
- 1.
From: How much time do people spend on social media? https://review42.com/resources/how-much-time-do-people-spend-on-social-media/#:~:text=US%20adults%20use%20media%20for%20an%20average%20of,for%20around%202%20hours%20and%206%20minutes%20daily
- 2.
From: New research sheds light on daily ad exposures https://sjinsights.net/2014/09/29/new-research-sheds-light-on-daily-ad-exposures/
- 3.
All planets build up through accretion. Electrostatic forces cause small particle to stick together, and when the object becomes large enough, gravity takes over and attracts more material, making all bodies larger over time. This process continues in every solar system until the supply of dust and free material is exhausted.
- 4.
This is often attributed to St. Augustine’s Confessions, but Augustine cites this as a “common proverb.” The oldest reference I could find for this quote is Pubilius Syrus (85–43 BC).
- 5.
We know today that there is water in deep, sunless craters near the lunar poles, but not in liquid form. Typically, liquid water and a hydrological cycle cause erosion and speed tectonic recycling of planetary crust.
- 6.
NASA and ESA both indicate evidence for some volcanic activity as recently as 100 million years ago, however this is very minor, and the Moon has been geologically dead for at least 2 billion years.
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Barth, D.E. (2022). The Earth and Moon. In: Star Mentor: Hands-On Projects and Lessons in Observational Astronomy for Beginners. The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98771-8_2
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